Hybrids. Etymological doublets. International words and false friends



Hybrids- words that are made up of elements derived from two or more different languages (АрнольдИ. В. Лексикологиясовременногоанглийскогоязыка).

English contains thousands of hybrid words, the vast majority of which show various combinations of morphemes coming from Latin, French and Greek and those of native origin.

Thus, readable has an English root and a suffix that is derived from the Latin -abilis and borrowed through French. Moreover, it is not an isolated case, but rather an established pattern that could be represented as English stem+-able. Cf. answerable, eatable, likable, usable. Its variant with the native negative prefix un- is also worthy of note: un-+English stem+-able. The examples for this are:unanswerable, un-bearable, unforeseeable, unsayable, unbelievable. An even frequent pattern is un-+Romanic stem + -able, which is also a hybrid: unallowable, uncontrollable, unmoveable, unquestionable, unreasonable and many others. A curious example is the word unmistakable, the ultimate constituents of which are: un-(Engl)+mis-(Engl)+-tak-(Scand) +-able (Fr). The very high valency of the suffix -able [эbl] seems to be accounted for by the presence of the homographic adjective able [eibl ] with the same meaning.

The suffix of personal nouns -ist derived from the Greek agent suffix -istes forms part of many hybrids. Sometimes (like in artist, dentist) it was borrowed as a hybrid already (Fr dentiste<Lat dens, dentis ‘a tooth’ + -ist). In other cases the mixing process took place on English soil, as in fatalist (from Lat fatalis) or violinist (from It violino, diminu-tive of viola), or tobacconist ‘dealer in tobacco’ (an irregular formation from Sp tabaco).

When a borrowed word becomes firmly established in English this creates the possibility of using it as a stem combined with a native af-fix. The phenomenon may be illustrated by the following series of adjectives with the native suffix -less: blameless, cheerless, colourless, countless, doubtless, faceless, joyless, noiseless, pitiless, senseless. These are built on the pattern that had been established in the English language and even in Old English long before the corresponding French loans were taken up. Prof. B.A. Ilyish mentions the following adjectives formed from noun and verbal stems: slæpleas ‘sleepless’; zeliefleas ‘unbelieving’; arleas ‘dishonest’; recceleas ‘reckless’. It goes without saying that there are many adjectives in which -less is combined with native stems: endless, harmless, hopeless, speechless, thankless.

The same phenomenon occurs in prefixation and inflection. The noun bicycle has a Latin prefix (bi-), a Greek root (cycle<kyklos ‘a wheel’), and it takes an English inflection in the plural: bicycles. There are also many hybrid compounds, such as blackguard (Engl+Fr) or schoolboy (Gr+Engl); сf. aircraft in which the first element came into English through Latin and French about 1600 but is ultimately derived from the Greek word aēr, whereas the second element is Common Germanic.

Observation of the English vocabulary, which is probably richer in hybrids than that of any other European language, shows a great variety of patterns. In some cases it is the borrowed affixes that are used with native stems, or vice versa. A word can simultaneously contain borrowed and native affixes.

The changes a loan word had had to undergo depending on the date of its penetration are the main cause for the existence of the so-called etymological doublets. Etymological doublets (or, by ellipsis, simply doublets) are two or more words of the same language which were derived by different routes from the same basic word. They differ to a certain degree in form, meaning and current usage. For example, the word 'fact' ('факт, действительность') and 'feat' ('подвиг') are derived from the same Latin word 'facere' ('делать') but 'fact' was borrowed directly from Latin and 'feat' was borrowed through French.

In modern English there are doublets of Latin, Germanic and native origin. Many Latin doublets are due to the different routes by which they entered the English vocabulary: some of the words are direct borrowings; others came into English through Parisian French or Norman French

• 'major', 'pauper', senior' – Latin

• 'mayor' ('майор'), 'poor' ('бедный'), 'sir' ('сэр') -French

The words 'chase' ('гнаться, преследовать'), 'chieftain' ('вождь/клана'), 'guard' ('охрана/стража') were borrowed into Middle English from Parisian French, and their doublets 'catch' ('поймать'), 'captain' ('капитан'), 'ward' ('палата/больничная') came from Norman French.

The doublets 'shirt' ('рубашка') - 'skirt' ('юбка'), 'shrew' ('сварливая женщина') - 'screw' ('винт, шуруп'), 'schriek' ('вопить, кричать') - 'screech' ('пронзительно кричать') are of Germanic origin. The first word of the pair comes down from Old English whereas the second one is a Scandinavian borrowing.

Examples of native doublets are 'shadow' ('тень') and 'shade’ Both are derived from the same Old English word 'sceadu'. 'Shade' is developed from the Nominative case, 'sceadu' is derived from oblique ease 'sceadwe'. The words 'drag' and 'draw' both come from Old English 'dragan' ('тащить')

Etymological doublets also arise as a result of shortening when both the shortened form and the full form of the word are used:
'defense' - 'защита' - 'fence' - ''забор';
'history' - 'история' - 'story' - 'рассказ'.

Words of identical origin that occur ([əˈkɜː] происходить) in several languages as a result of simultaneous (одновременный) or successive (последовательный) borrowings from one ultimate source are called international words. (I. V. Arnold)

Such words usually convey (передавать) notions which are significant in the field of communication. Most of them are of Latin and Greek origin.

International words play a very prominent part in various spheres of terminology, such as vocabulary of science, art, industry, etc. The great number of Italian words, connected with architecture, painting and music were borrowed into all the European languages and became international: baritone, concert, opera, etc.

Examples of new or comparatively new words due to the progress of science illustrate the importance of international vocabulary: genetic code, site, database, etc.

The international word-stock has also grown due to the influx (поток) of exotic borrowed words like bungalow [ˈbʌŋgələʊ], anaconda, sari, etc.

The sports terms: football, hockey, tennis, golf, etc.

International words should not be mixed with words of the common Indo-European stock that also comprise (включать в себя) a sort of common fund of the European languages.

One should not make a false conclusion that the English 'son', the German 'Sohn' and the Russian 'сын' are international words due to their outward similarity (внешнее сходство). They represent the Indo-European element in each of the three languages and they are cognates (однокоренные слова) - words of the same etymological root (корень) and not borrowings.

False friends are words in two languages (or letters in two alphabets) that look or sound similar, but differ significantly in meaning. There is often a partial overlap in meanings, which creates additional complications.

accurate - аккуратный - точный

artist - артист - художник

intelligent - интеллигентный - умный

сomplexion - комплекция - цвет лица

novel - новелла - роман

prospect – проспект - перспектива

family - фамилия - семья

physique - физик – телосложение


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